Visible name ledger



June 24, 1941.

J. E. FRANCE ETAL VISIBLE NAME LEDGER Filed Sept. 3, 1937 l g. I

INVENTOR S I I F JOSEPH E. FRANCE. 81 RAY A. HAMMER Patented June 2%, l dl UNETED STATES ZQiZlZZ PATENT @FFME Iowa Application September 3, 1937, Serial No. 162,314

2 @laims. (Cl. 129--16) Our invention relates to account books, and more particularly to a visible name ledger.

It is a purpose of our invention to provide an account book that is provided with removable sheet members, which are carried by leaves of the book, the removable sheet members being so arranged in overlapping relation that the name on the sheet will be visible when all said sheets are in place on the leaf of the book. Preferably, the sheet members that are used for the loose leaves are made of flexible fibrous sheet material, such as a light cardboard, and are, in efiect, flexible card members which are mounted in rows in overlapping relation on the leaves of the book. The leaves may be made so that the same can be removed if desired, although the interchangeability and removability of the separate account cards is the most important feature of our invention.

It is a further purpose of our invention to pro- :1.

vide a book of the abov mentitoned character that is provided with leaves that are hinged along one edge thereof to a back member and which carry rows of the removable sheet members, or card members, on opposite faces of the leaves, the rows, preferably, extending parallel to the edge of the leaf that is bound or hinged to the back member of the book.

It is a particular purpose of our invention to provide an account book, or similar loose leaf book, of the above mentioned character, in which the leaves that carry the loose leaf members or cards are made of a plurality of plies of sheet material, such as light weight flexible cardboard,

the plies being secured together only at the edge portions thereof and being free between the edges thereof, the portions of said plies that are free of each other being provided with slots, with which tabs on the removable sheets or loose leaves are adapted to be interlocked.

It is an important purpose of our invention to provide a book having leaves of the above mentioned character that are provided with means to prevent the tabs on the removable cards, or leaves, from interfering with each other when the same are inserted in the slots, this being, preferably, accomplished by providing a partition ply, or separating ply, between the two slotted plies opposite the slotted portions thereof, so that a tab passing through a slot in one of the plies of the leaf will not become engaged with or entangled with the tabs on any of the cards or removable leaves extending through the slots in the other ply of the slotted hinged leaf member.

It is another purpose of our invention to provide a book of the above mentioned character, in which a back is provided that is made of rigid material, the back being provided with slots or grooves, into which the hinged means for the leaves enter, and securing elements extending through said rigid back member engaged with the portions of the leaves extending into said slots to hold the same in assembled relation, the means being, preferably, pins that may be removed, should it be desired to remove one of the leaves from the book.

It is an important purpose of our invention to provide new and improved means for mounting removable leaf, or card members, on a leaf, or sheet, of a book, comprising a slot in the leaf, or page, and a tab on the removable card member that is so constructed and arranged relative to the main body portion of the card member that the tab is adapted to be inserted into the slot at one end thereof, the card and its tab then moved, about a point adjacent the end of the card first inserted as a center, in an arc, and after that end of the tab has been fully inserted in the slot in that manner, the card is moved lengthwise of the slot with the tab in the slot to interlock the card with the slotted book leaf, or supporting member therefor. This is, preferably, accomplished by providing a tab that is spaced at opposite ends from the main body of the card, or removable sheet, or leaf member, by means of a slot, one of said slots being longer than the other, and by providing curved end edges on the tab whereby the same can be swung into position in one of the steps for interlocking the card, or loose leaf, with the hinged book leaf or supporting member for the removable leaf members, or cards.

It is another purpose of our invention to provide stiifening means for said leaves at the unslotted portions thereof to strengthenthe same and enable the same to be handled more efiiciently than would otherwise be the case.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will appear as the description of the drawing proceeds. We desire to have it understood, however, that we do not intend to limit ourselves to the particular details shown or described, except as defined in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a face view of our improved removable card, or loose leaf, account book, open, the same being partly broken away.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary face view of a portion of said account book, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary face view of one of the loose leaves, or removable card members, before the tab is bent into the position it assumes when interlocked with the carrying leaf of the book, showing the end thereof that carries the tab.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view through our improved book, taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2, on a somewhat more enlarged scale, the removable card members being omitted from one of the leaves.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on the line 5--5 of Fig, 2, on a slightly enlarged scale.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale.

ig. 7 is a fragmentary face view, showing a portion of the carrying, or supporting leaf, and

a fragmentary portion of one of the removable leaves, or card members, in the position it will assume when first inserted at the first end thereof that enters the slot.

Fig. 8 is a similar view to Fig. 7, showing the card after it has been swung on an arc into posiber.

Referring in detail to the drawing, our im- 1;.

proved loose leaf, or removable, card, account book, is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 as having a pair of covers l2, which are secured together by means of a flexible member l3, extending across the back M of the book. The back of the book is, preferably, made of a rigid solid block of material, such as a block of wood, as will be evident from Fig. 4, and said rigid back member is provided with cut-away portions at l5 to accommodate the cover members I2, so that these will lie flush with the back after being assembled therewith, and with the flexible member l3 secured thereto. It is, of course, to be understood that the flexible member i3 is secured to the back M by adhesive, or similar securing means. The rigid back member is provided with a plurality of slots or grooves, l6, two being shown, but of course, any number may be provided, the number of slots, or grooves, corresponding, of course, to the number of hinged leaves, or card supporting members, of the book. The spacing of the slots from each other and from the cover members If is such that the full number of cards, or removable leaves, that are designed to be associated with each leaf, can be assembled therewith and accommodated between the cover members and the leaves that carry said removable cards, or removableleaf members.

Each of the hinged leaves or supporting members for the loose cards, or leaves, comprises a plurality of plies. A central ply ll of flexible fibrous material, such as a flexible cardboard, is provided, which is somewhat wider than the other plies of the leaf, and a part of this central ply of each leaf acts as a hinging portion to hingedly secure the leaf to the rigid back member it, the ply ll being doubled back on itself, as indicated at l8, and the doubled back portion is, preferably, secured to the adjacent face of the ply ll by an adhesive. Pins l9 are provided that extend through openings in the rigid back member I l and through the doubled portions of the plies I! to secure the leaves to the back. Mounted on each side of the ply I1 is a ply 29, the plies of each leaf being, preferably, made from a single sheet of material, being bent at 21 around the edge of the ply ['1 remote from the hinge forming portion thereof, and being, preferably, provided with doubled back portions 22 that are turned inwardly to lie between the main body portions of the plies 29 and the ply If, thus serving to space the plies 20 from the ply I! and stiffening the edge of the leaf adjacent the hinge portion thereof. Also the top edges of the plies 20 are turned inwardly by being doubled back on themselves at 23 to act as additional spacing means and for stiffening the leaves adjacent the upper edges thereof, the doubled back portions 22 and 23 being, of course, secured by adhesive to the adjacent faces of the main body portions of the plies 22' and H. The plies 20 of each leaf, as will be clear from Fig. 6, are also doubledback on themselves and turned inwardly, so as to lie adjacent to, and be secured to, the plies I! and 2i], as indicated at 24 in Fig. 6, the same being secured in a similar manner to the doubled back portions 23 and 22 and serving the same purposes; Spacing and stiffening strips 22 are also provided between the plies 20 and Il along the outermost edge of the leaf. The portions 25 of plies 20 are unslotted.

The slots 21 are arranged in rows, as will be evident from Figs. 1, 2, 5, '7, 8, 9 and 10. In the figures referred to, except Fig. 10, the leaves are provided with one row of slots 21 in each ply 20, while in the form shown in Fig, 10 there are two parallel rows of slots 21 provided in each ply 2B of each leaf of the book, the construction of the leaves of the book shown in Fig, 10 being otherwise the same as the leaves of the book shown in Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive. It will be noted that a ply l1 lies between the slotted portion of the one ply 25 of each leaf and the slotted portion of the other ply 2B of each leaf, the slotted portions lying, of course, opposite each other.

The removable leaves, or flexible card members, are provided with substantially rectangular body portions 28 and with elongated tabs 29 of lesser length than the corresponding dimension of the body portion 28. The card members are made of flexible fibrous sheet material, such as a flexible cardboard that is readily bendable without cracking. The tab 29 is joined to the main body portion 28 of each removable card, or leaf, throughout the major portion of its length, but is separated therefrom adjacent the opposite ends of the tab by means of slots 30 and 3!. The slots 30 and iii are very narrow, being substantially only slits, and the slit, or slot, 3| is longer than the slit, or slot, 38. The long edge of the tab 29 remote from the body portion 28, indicated by the numeral 32, is, preferably, straight, While the end edge 33 is curved on an arc, which is substantially curved about a center lying near the inner end 34 of the slot 3i. The end edge 35 of the tab 29 is similarly curved on an arc. The tabs 29, when in their final position, when interlocked with the leaves made up of the plurality of plies, as indicated above, are bent back on the main body portions 28 and spaced therefrom, lying on the opposite side of the ply 20 from the main body portion of the card, or removable leaf member, as will be evident from Fig. 5, one of the leaves being shown in Fig. as having the removable cards, or leaves associated therewith, while the other is shown without any such cards in place thereon.

In order that the removable card members may be inserted in position in interlocking relation with the hinged leaves, in overlapping parallel rows, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the card is first positioned substantially as shown in Fig. '7 with the tab inserted at an oblique angle into the slot 2'! with which the card is to be interlocked, with the curved edge 35 foremost. The card is inserted in the slot as far as it will go in this direction, which will be until the material of the ply 20 engages the material of the connecting portion between the tab 29 and the body portion 28 of the card at the rear end 34 of the slot 3|. The body portion 28 of the card is then swung around to the position shown in Fig. 8, the arcuate end edge 33 of the tab 29 permitting this, and when this takes place the tab 29 is passed entirely through the slot and lies on the opposite side of the ply 20 from the main body portion 28, with the slot 30 in such position that the card can be moved endwise along the slot 21 until the inn-er end 3'! of the slot 30 is reached. When this takes place, the slot or slit 34 will not be entirely disengaged from the material of the ply 20 to the right of the slot 21, as shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, and the tab 29 will be interlocked with the ply 20, the slots 21 being, of course, shorter than the tabs 29. It will be noted that no bending or curving of the card 28 is necessary to interlock the card with the ply 20 of the hinged leaf of the book. After the card has assumed the position shown in Fig. 9, it is swung downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 5, the same bending readily on a line substantially between the ends 34 and 31 of the slots 31 and 30, respectively, without cracking or creasing, due to the fact that a very flexible fibrous sheet material, which may be designated as a flexible cardboard, is utilized for making the removable cards or sheets.

The removable cards, or leaves, are, of course, removable from the slotted carrying members, or hinged leaves, by a series of operations the reverse of those previously described. That is, from the position shown in Fig. 5 the body portion of the card 28 is swung upwardly and then it has the position shown in Fig. 9. It is then moved endwise along the slot to the position shown in Fig. 8, after which the end of the card 28 that is provided with the curved edge 33 on the tab and the short slot 30 is swung about the end 36 of the slot 2'! to the position shown in Fig. 7, whereupon the removable card or sheet 28 is readily disengaged from the slot by moving the same upwardly at an oblique angle to disengage the tab 29 from the slot 21.

It is, of course, to be understood that in the form of book shown in Fig. 10, either two rows of single tab card members 28, such as shown in Fig. 3, can be utilized with the tabs 29 thereof associated each with a slot 21, or wider removable sheet or card members 28' can be provided that have two tabs 29' thereon that are each made in the same way as the tab 29, which are adapted to be engaged with the slots 21, so that a tab 29 will engage a slot 21 of one row, and the other tab 29 will engage the corresponding slot of the other row of slots on each face thereof, such as the sheet 20' shown in Fig. 10.

It is, of course, to be understood that when the cards 23 are in the position shown in Fig. 5 the same will be arranged in overlapping relation with a portion of an overlapping card, such as the portion 40, projecting beyond the bottom edge of the card overlying the same. The area 40 of the card may be separated by any suitable designating means, such as the line 4!, from the remainder thereof to indicate the space in which the name of the account, or similar indexing means, may be written, or printed, or typewritten.

What we claim is:

1. The combination with a slotted sheet, of members detachably mounted on said sheet in overlapping relation, each of said members having a body portion and a tab portion connected therewith, said tab portion being elongated in the direction of length of the member on which the same is provided and said member being slit to form a pair of tongues extending lengthwise of said tab portion at opposite ends thereof, one of said slits being longer than the other thereof, whereby said tab is movable into and out of interlocking relation with a slot in said sheet by a longitudinal sliding movement thereof to engage one end of said tab in said slot, followed by a swinging of said card about said end of said tab portion to move the rest of said tab into said slot, and a final sliding movement of said card lengthwise of itself longitudinally in said slot.

2. The combination with a slotted sheet, of card members detachably mounted on said sheet in overlapping relation, each of said members having a body portion and a tab portion conneoted therewith, and extending lengthwise along a longitudinal edge of said body portion, said tab portion being shorter than said card members and having convexly curved edges at the ends thereof, and said members having slots extending inwardly from the end portions of said tab and lying between said tab and said body portion, to provide ends on said tabs free of said body portion, one of said slots being longer than the other thereof, and the distance between the inner end of the longer slot and the tab end remote therefrom being no greater than the length of the slots in said sheet, to provide means for interlocking said tabs with said sheet.

JOSEPH E. FRANCE. RAY A. HAMMER. 

